Tag: #adventureintheordinary

Lately I feel like I lose my spirituality the moment I walk in the door at work. I go to daily mass and love the silence, intimacy and contemplation that comes with receiving the Eucharist and then praying the rosary. I wish I could hold on to that peace all day but when I walked into work this morning I was bombarded with a passive aggressive note from the boss, a phone ringing off the hook, difficult personalities barging in to start their day, and I wanted my silence back. I was even resentful that I didn’t get it. I worked really hard in one area only to be reprimanded for not working in another. And my pride doesn’t bounce back from that sort of thing the way I wish it would. It lingers in the frustration. And I’m left blogging at the end of the day wondering how I find Jesus in these moments that are stressful. In these moments that fly by so fast. In these moments where I am impatient with everything and everyone who doesn’t see things my way. In these moments where I am so unlike Jesus who is still within me, still communing with me.

I’m hoping that His love will make all the difference. I’m hoping I’ll learn how to find Him even in the midst of an ordinary life with its ordinary stresses. I’m hoping that His love will be worth it not just in the end but here in my neediness while I’m begging for it in the middle.

I read a quote today from St. Catherine of Sienna that essentially said we cannot defeat evil with evil but must defeat evil with virtue. I was struck by how profound that is especially in our modern world where so few strive for holiness and virtue. Where it can feel like the only way to beat evil is with evil. It can be so tempting for me to want to be cruel in return when I have been treated cruelly because it feels like justice and is gratifying only for the faintest moment. Because instead of offering up my sorrows I’ve dragged another down into that mire and it doesn’t change anything except me, and it’s a change for the worse.

To fight evil with virtue is what I want to do in my heart but I confess it’s tempting to see that as ineffective. In a world of self sufficiency and control it can be tempting to believe that if you don’t play by the world’s rules you won’t get what you want in the end, you won’t achieve your goals. With virtue and walking the virtuous path you may face persecution and obstacles but you learn the lesson I am still learning to totally trust in God and where He leads you. To trust that even if you don’t see the fruits of your virtue and if others remain the same He still sees you and will reward you. But I confess to you also that I don’t want to become mercenary about receiving a reward I would like to be virtuous simply because I ought to be. It’s the way God designed me to be and it’s the only way I’ll experience not only true love but true life. Please pray for me!

So while this title like most of my titles past lacks inspiration creativity and pleases probably no one but me due to the ever so slight pun, it does capture my current emotion pretty well.

The internet gets a lot of flack for being the source of all evil in society and, as a millennial who grew up with the internet, I can see the validity to points of the argument. However, as I’ve been blogging and getting into the New Evangelization I think it can also be a really incredible tool for evangelizing and bringing people together who otherwise never would have met. For example, now you can even Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I really like blogging, so much so that a few months back I opened up a forum for guest contributions to absolutely ANYONE who felt they had something to say about their own faith journey and how it’s played out in their life.

It has yielded such amazing results including an awesome guest post from my very own amazing little sister A.C. Wilson which I am more proud of then I can say.

The offer still stands open to ALL and I am pleased to announce that there is now another guest post will be ready for publishing Thursday 2/23 at 6 PM eastern from Sr. Christina from the community of Dillingen Franciscan Sisters in North Dakota. NORTH DAKOTA. Points for the internet for making that happen. I’d never met anyone from North Dakota to that point.

I told her that my blog community is probably the equivalent of a loving small town like the ones I imagine are in North Dakota! (I will eventually get over it I promise) I also told her that posting wouldn’t get her a million views overnight or make the community an internet sensation. But I told her I do have something far better, at least in my mind.

I told her that those who read these blog tend to be the type that are seeking: seeking happiness, seeking to be challenged intellectually, seeking to be inspired but most of all seeking God in the everyday whether they have admitted it to themselves or not. The people that I know read this blog are my favorite kind of people, people that are open to letting things outside themselves touch their heart. Only in this environment can truth and beauty resonate.

So in the coming weeks I am going to post a short bio about Sr. Christina and her community. Then I will publish the beautiful piece she submitted to me. I encourage you all to read it and maybe even to check out their site because why not?

And lastly I wanted to thank you all for inspiring me with your readership, your thoughtful comments, and for making this blog possible in the first place. I am truly humbled that anyone actually takes the time to read it and it has given me such joy not only to share little pieces of my walk with God but especially in hearing about yours as well.

And in that spirit should you ever want to share in a more profound way I am posting the link for submission again here. (#shameless)